Busting Beauty Myths

VIDEO TRANCRIPTS

Ashley Koff: Hi. I’m dietician Ashley Koff, and I’m here with Simply Natural Living and today, with Linda Kammins from Linda Kammins Salon and products. And Linda, you are, gosh, you’re just a wealth of knowledge for me on hair nutrition and how we can get, what I consider the win win, which is gorgeous hair and have it be good for our health.

Ashley Koff: How about we go through three different areas. So the first one is—there’s a myth that I fell into, which is if you’re trying to grow out your hair, you shouldn’t get it cut.

Linda Kammins: Right.

Ashley Koff: So should you or should you not cut your hair?

Linda Kammins: Well the thing is is that it really depends on the hair; I mean there’s ethnic types that can grow their hair for like forever.

Ashley Koff: Sure.

Linda Kammins: Like Japanese women have the strongest hair there is, but for the rest of us, it’s really important to have your hair cut more frequently depending on how thin it is. I generally tell people not more than two and a half months.

That’s really important and a lot of people don’t understand that; they think, well how’s my hair going to grow if you’re cutting it? But I do cut by new moon cycles too. It’s the way that farmers trim their trees.

Ashley Koff: Right.

Linda Kammins: And it does work. We are like plants. We are living and these methods do pay a difference to the way that our hair comes out.

Ashley Koff: So something else that is really different for me, and I think I intuitively went this direction and then you validated, but I felt really good but

I’m not somebody who can wash my hair very often, and when I came in here you’re like, oh that’s good, and I thought I was doing something wrong. So how often should we be washing our hair and what are the advantages or disadvantages of washing our hair.

Linda Kammins: Well the disadvantage of washing your hair too frequently, and it really depends on the shampoo you’re using but you’re always washing away the natural ecosystem of the scalp. And it’s really important that it’s there. It’s sort of like drowning out your garden all of the time if you’re always washing. So you’re taking away important microbes that are there to actually feed the roots and to make for stronger and healthier hair.

Ashley Koff: So just backing that out, when we say ecosystem and microbes, like are we really talking about—you know are there good bacteria, you know we hear about probiotics or there are things that are meant to be alive on our scalp and

Linda Kammins: Well I understand that we are what, ninety six percent microbes? So

Ashley Koff: Bacteria.

Linda Kammins: We’re totally made up of that, you know? I mean I kind of think of ourselves like a little earth. We’ve got a lot of water you know? And trees.

Ashley Koff: So it’s kind of like we’re learning not to do too much anti-bacterial

Linda Kammins: Right.

Ashley Koff: Soap and washing our hair all of the time would be doing the same.

Linda Kammins: Yeah.

Linda Kammins: This is all about balance. You know, when you bring back balance you start to see results. So yes, when you were asking about the hair, should you let it go for a little while before you wash it? I believe so. Because that’s what I found where people really allowed their hair to get dirty and then brushed it really well. So I’m not talking about any brush because everybody will say, I have a brush just like that.

Linda Kammins: This is an important tool. It’s like as important as having a great toothbrush. You know, it’s very important. But you’re brushing all of these natural materials into the hair it makes it stronger and stronger. And it starts to become shinier and shinier cause you’re polishing it.

Ashley Koff: That natural color. Okay great. So, and then the third area and myth, and you actually say do not use a conditioner, and I’m like wait a second how do I, you know get—how do I get the conditioning benefits. So what’s your?..

Linda Kammins: Well I don’t use a conditioner on my hair because the shampoo that I make has a lot of nutrients in it, and if your hair’s in really good shape, you don’t need a conditioner. But I do come across people who have dry hair who come to see me for the first time and have had their hair over tinted or too much peroxide and therefore, with shampoo alone, they’re going to get snarls; so I created a rinse and it’s only intended to get tangles out, but not intended to leave on the hair.

Because what we want is tensile strength.

Ashley Koff: Okay. Got it.

Linda Kammins: You know, so we want to build strength just like you would your plants. You know, if the plants get too much alkalinity, they’re going to droop.

Ashley Koff: Got it. So It’s not like we want to apply the conditioner and have it like, sit on them heavy; we want to be able to

Linda Kammins: No just to get the tangles out. And then eventually you don’t even need it. You know, once your hair maintains and gets that tensile strength then you’re going to see all this body and that it detangles pretty easily. And you don’t have to put all that stuff on.

Ashley Koff: You know you make hair nutrition so simple, and I feel like, you know we get all these commercials and products and all of this other stuff. So at the end of the day cut it—cut it regularly, and that regularity may depend on where your hair is

Linda Kammins: Yeah.

Ashley Koff: And what the goals are.

Linda Kammins: Exactly.

Ashley Koff: Wash it. Don’t wash it too often. Wash with good quality as you were talking about, not something that’s going to be reducing all of the bacteria

Linda Kammins: Right.

Ashley Koff: And the good things for it. And then we may not need a conditioner or even if we do need a conditioner because of the dryness, then actually think about a cream rinse which is super helpful. Always simplifying it for me; in this case simplifying hair nutrition, So I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Linda Kammins: You’re so welcome.

Ashley Koff: Thank you so much for joining us here at Simply Natural Living. Your Health. Uncomplicated.